Card tray construction and method of forming same

ABSTRACT

A card tray construction including a tray body section; a tray front section affixed to a front wall of the body section; a card holder rod running through the front section and into the tray body section for the purpose of stringing cards to be retained in the tray section; and a holder rod latching device accessible through an opening in the bottom wall of the front section. The latching device is in the form of a prefabricated unit, which is adapted to be inserted through its access opening and be automatically retained in a proper mounted position upon assembly of the front and tray body section.

United States Patent 1 Little 1 May 8, 1973 1 1 CARD TRAY CONSTRUCTIONAND METHOD OF FORMING SAME [75] Inventor: Carl H. Little, Jamestown,N.Y.

[7 3] Assignee: Weber-Knapp Company,

Jamestown, NY.

[22] Filed: Mar. 18, 1971 [21] App1.No.: 125,493

[52] U.S. Cl ..402/6l, 402/502 [51] Int. Cl. ..B42f 13/00, B42f 17/16[58] Field of Search ..402/61, 63, 502;

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1933 Roscoe ..402/614/1972 Savage ..402/502X 709,843 9/1902 Wright ..402/61 PrimaryExaminer.lerome Schnall Attorney-Bean & Bean [57] ABSTRACT A card trayconstruction including a tray body section; a tray front section affixedto a front wall of the body section; a card holder rod running throughthe front section and into the tray body section for the purpose ofstringing cards to be retained in the tray section; and a holder rodlatching device accessible through an opening in the bottom wall of thefront section. The latching device is in the form of a prefabricatedunit, which is adapted to be inserted through its access opening and beautomatically retained in a proper mounted position upon assembly of thefront and tray body section.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHAY 8W H 3732.019

' SHEET 1 BF 3 INVENTOR. c/mL h. L 7'TL E ATTORNEYS CARD TRAYCONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to card tray or drawer constructions andparticularly the type used to removably store library catalog cards.

The present tray construction includes a molded plastic tray bodysection; a two part molded plastic tray front section, which may besuitably affixed to a front wall of the body section by means of screwfasteners; a card holder rod removably insertable through the frontsection and into the body section for the purpose of stringing cards tobe retained in the tray section; and a latching device for removablyretaining the holder rod in inserted position. A particular feature ofthe present invention is that the latching device is in the form of aprefabricated unit, which is insertable through an opening into a cavityformed by the front section and thereafter automatically retained withinthe cavity for operation through the opening upon assembly of the frontand body sections.

DRAWINGS The nature and mode of the present invention will now be morefully described in the following detailed description taken with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the library card file tray of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the card holding rod and thelatching device therefor;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the front section with itsfront half removed;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken generally along line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the area designated as FIG. 5 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the front tray constructionshown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken generally along line 77 in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, l designatesa library card tray or the like, which generally comprises a tray bodysection 2 dimensioned to receive a stack of library catalog cards, notshown; a tray front section 3; a catalog card holder rod 4 extendingrearwardly through an opening 5 provided in front 3 and into tray body 2for the purpose of stringing the library cards thereon; and a holder rodlatching device 6 mounted within front 3.

Tray body 2 is best shown in FIGS. 1, 4, 6 and 7 as being of integrallyformed, molded plastic construction having front, rear, side and bottomwalls 10-13, respectively. As best shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 7, front wall10 is apertured at 14 to freely receive holder rod 4 and at 16 to freelyreceive front mounting screw fastener devices 17. Front wall 10 isprovided with an appropriate number of forwardly projecting frontpositioning studs 19, which are preferably arranged concentrically ofapertures 16. As will be apparent from viewing FIG. 7 front wall 10 isdownwardly and rearwardly inclined, such as to permit bottom wall 13 toproject forwardly of the base thereof and define a shelf or ledge 20,whose function will be hereinafter described in detail.

Holder rod 4 is shown in FIG. 2 as including an end mounted, enlargedpull knob portion 22 having a forward portion 23 of generallyrectangular configuration and a rearward portion 24 of cylindricalconically shaped configuration. Oppositely facing surfaces of forwardportion 23 are provided with a pair of grooves 26a and 2617, which arearranged within a common plane extending substantially perpendicular tothe axis of holder rod 4. It will be understood that from sectionopening 5 is preferably formed with a configuration complementary tothat of forward portion 23, thereby requiring the rod when insertedtherethrough to present one or the other of grooves 264 and 26b inoperative association with latching device 6, as shown in FIG. 5. Also,it will be understood that in the preferred embodiment illustrated inthe drawings, forward portion 23 is dimensioned such that its forwardlyfacing surface 28 is arranged flush with the front surface of frontsection 3 when the holder rod is in properly inserted position and acoil spring 29 provided to move the holder rod from its insertedposition when released by latching device 6. When coil spring 29 isemployed, rearward portion 24 is dimensioned such that the spring isfreely received therearound for abutting engagement with a rear edgesurface of forward portion 23.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 7, it will be seen that front section 3 isof essentially hollow, rectangular construction and generally includesmolded plastic front and rear halves 30 and 32, and a pair of generallyL- shaped metal reinforcing plate inserts 34, which together withlatching device 6, are adapted to be positioned within a cavity 36defined by halves 30 and 32 in the manner to be described.

Front half 30 includes a front panel 38, which is provided with arectangular opening 39 forming the forward end of front section opening5, and rectangular openings 40 and 41; and rearwardly extending top,bottorn and side marginal flanges 42-44, respectively, which define acontinuous recess 46. Also, as shown only in FIGS. 6 and 7, front panelis formed with a sin gle rearwardly extending latching devicepositioning rib 47. The left hand side flange 44, as viewed in FIG. 1,is provided with a rectangular opening 48, which is disposed in verticalalignment with front panel opening 41, and bottom flange 43 is providedwith a generally rectangular opening 49 through which latching device 6may be inserted into cavity 36.

Rear half 32 includes a rear panel 50, which is provided with a circularopening 52 forming the rear end of front section opening 5 and circularopenings 54 for freely receiving the positioning studs 19 and/orfastener devices 17. Extending forwardly from rear panel 50 is anapertured drawer pull 56; positioning and supporting ribs 58, 58a for adrawer contents identification card 59 shown only in FIG. 7; a pluralityof front panel spacer and latching device positioning ribs 62; and aplurality of studs 64 for positioning or orienting plate inserts 34.Extending rearwardly from rear panel 50 is a cylindrical extension 66,which is arranged concentrically of opening 52 and cooperates with trayfront wall 10 to clampingly secure coil spring 29 in position withinopening 52 when the front and tray sections are assembled. As best shownin FIGS. 3 and 7, rear panel 50 is also provided with a cutout or slot68 arranged adjacent its lower marginal edge for the purpose to behereinafter described.

Plate inserts 34 are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 as being stamped from sheetmetal to form a marginal flange portion 70 and a tab portion 72, whichproject in opposite directions from a planer panel portion 74. Portion74 is shown in FIG. 3 as being provided with a plurality of threadedopenings 76 for receipt of fastener devices 17 and smooth bore openings78 for receipt of studs 64.

Front section 3 may be assembled by first mounting plate inserts 34 onrear panel by inserting studs 64 in plate bore openings 78 in order topositionally align threaded openings 76 with rear panel openings 54.When thus positioned, each of plate inserts 34 extend into closeproximity to the base of drawer pull 56, as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.Thereafter, halves 30 and 32 are permanently joined together by fixingthe marginal edge portions of rear panel 50 within flange recess 46,such as by fusion or adhesive bonding techniques.

When halves 30 and 32 are joined, openings 39 and 52 are arranged inaxial alignment; drawer pull 56 freely projects forwardly of front panel38 through opening 40; required numbers of rear panel ribs 62 arearranged in supporting engagement with the rear surface of front panel38 in order to prevent collapse of the front section and plate inserttabs 72 are arranged in engagement with or in close proximity to therear surface of front panel 38 in order to retain the plate inserts inposition on studs 64 and to assist in preventing collapse of the frontsection. Also, when the front section is assembled, front panel rib 47and required numbers of rear panel ribs 62, such as those designed asprimed in FIG. 3 and the inner or forwardly facing surface of rear panel50 cooperate to define guide or front, top, opposite sides and rearpositioning surfaces, which positionally orient latching device 6 withincavity 36 when such device is inserted through opening 49, as best shownin FIGS. 3, 4, and 7. Further, as will be apparent from viewing FIG. 7,rear panel ribs 58 and 58a are arranged for cooperation with therearwardly facing surface of front panel 38 and top flange 42,respectively, to define an elongated cavity 80 for receiving contentsidentifying card 59, which may be removably inserted through side flangeopening 48 for viewing through front panel opening 41.

Latching device 6 is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 as including a mountingflange member 90; a latching member 92, which is pivotally supported onthe mounting member, as by a pin shaft 94; and a tension spring 96,which serves to interconnect members 90 and 92 such as to normally biasthe latching member into a first or latching position thereof, which isdefined by abutment of member 92 with forwardly extending mountingmember tab 98 as shown in FIG. 3. Mounting member 90 is also providedwith a rearwardly extending tab 100, which is receivable within rearpanel cutout 68 when latching device 6 is fully inserted within cavity36, as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 7; and forwardly projecting positioningtabs 102 and 104. As will be apparent from viewing FIGS. 3 and 6, tab104 also serves to provide an abutment defining the releasing orinoperative position of latching member 92, shown in phantom line inFIG. 3, and to partially close opening 49 when latching device 6 ispositioned within cavity 36.

Latching member 92, which is pivotally supported by pin shaft 94intermediate its ends, includes an operation end portion 106 having aforwardly projecting operating tab 108 and a forwardly offset latchingblade end portion 110 having a beveled edge 1 12 arranged to extendsubstantially vertically within cavity 36 when latching member 92 is inits latching position.

Drawer 1 is assembled from its component parts by slideably insertinglatching device 6 through opening 49 into cavity 36 to position top,front, opposite sides and rear surface portions of mounting member inengagement with the above mentioned cavity positioning surfaces;positioning coil spring 27 within opening 52.; and then fixing frontsection 3 to tray body section 2 by means of devices 17, the latterextending through tray front wall openings 16 forwardly into plateinsert threaded openings 76. As will be apparent from viewing FIG. 7,when sections 2 and 3 are thus joined, the enlarged rear end of coilspring 29 is automatically locked or retained between tray front wall 10and projection 66, and ledge 20 is arranged in abutting engagement withthe rear surface of rear panel 50 and in underlying engagement withmounting member tab 100. Ledge 20 and tab thereafter define cooperatingabutments, which serve to prevent removal of mounting member 90 of thelatching device from engagement with the cavity positioning surfacesoutwardly through opening 49. Also, when the drawer is assembled in themanner described, plate inserts 34 function both to clarnpingly securethe front and tray body section together and to transmit loads appliedto drawer pull 56 directly to tray front wall 10.

Holder rod 4 may then be inserted through front section opening 5 andtray front wall opening 14 for the purpose of removably retainingappropriate library cards within the tray. Towards the end of insertingmovement, cylindrical-conical portion 24 engages beveled blade edge 112to thereby effect pivotal movement of the latching member in a clockwisedirection, as viewed in FIG. 3 away from its latching position; forwardportion 23 thereafter engaging the forward end of coil spring 29 toinitiate compression thereof. At the completion of holder rod insertingmovement, whereat the forward face 28 of knob 22 is preferably flushwith the front surface of front panel 38, spring 29 is fully compressedand one or the other of grooves 26a, 26b is arranged in transversealignment with beveled blade edge 112, thereby permitting the latter tobe seated within such groove and be subsequently maintained in latchingposition under the resilient bias of spring 96. When it is desired toremove holder rod 4 for the purpose of adding or removing cardstherefrom, it is merely necessary for the user to rub his thumb orfinger along bottom flange 43 in a direction from right to left, asviewed in FIGS. 1 and 3, such as to engage tab 108 and thereby pivotmember 92 in a clockwise direction, also as viewed in FIG. 3, in orderto remove blade edge 112 from groove 26b against the bias of spring 96.Upon removal of blade edge 1 12 from groove 26b, coil spring 29 isoperative to move the pull knob 22 from its normally seated positionwithin the front section in order to permit the former to be grasped andmanipulated by the user as necessary. Of course, spring 29 is preferablyrelatively weak, since it would be undesirable to propel the holder rodat a speed or through a distance which might cause injury to the user.

If flush mounting of holder rod 4 is not required, and the rod ispermitted to project forwardly of the front section .when fullyinserted, ejector spring 29 may of course be eliminated.

I claim:

1. A card tray construction comprising in combination:

a front section including in part a bottom wall and a rear wall, saidfront section being formed with a' cavity having front, rear, top andopposite side positioning surfaces, said bottom wall having an openingtherethrough in communication with said cavity and corresponding in sizeat least to the cross-sectional dimensions of said cavity defined bysaid front, rear and opposite side positioning surfaces, said rear wallhaving slot means extending rearwardly therethrough in communicationwith said cavity;

a tray section dimensioned to accommodate a plurality of apertured cardstherewithin and including in part a pair of side walls and a bottomwall, said tray section defining abutment means arranged intermediatesaid side walls and above a bottom surface of said bottom wall thereof;

means for joining said tray section to said front secsaid latchingmember being accessible through said opening for manual operationbetween said positions thereof.

2. A card tray construction comprising in combina- 5 tion:

tion whereby to position forwardly disposed edges of said tray sectionside walls and bottom wall in engagement with said front section rearwall with said bottom surface of said tray section bottom wall disposedessentially flush with a bottom surface of said front section bottomwall;

a card holder rod removably insertable rearwardly through said frontsection and into said tray section for stringing said apertured cards;and

a latch device for releasably retaining said holder rod in an insertedposition thereof, said latch device including a mounting member and alatching member secured to said mounting member for movement relativethereto between holder rod latching and unlatching positions, saidmounting member being arranged within said cavity and having surfaceportions thereof disposed in surface abutting engagement with saidcavity positioning surfaces, said mounting member additionally includingabutment means, one of said mounting member abutment means and said traysection abutment means being arranged to extend through said slot meanswhereby to position said mounting member abutment means in overlyingengagement with said tray section abutment means for maintaining saidmounting member surface portions in surface engagement with said cavitypositioning surfaces and preventing movement of said mount ing memberdownwardly through said opening,

a front section including in part a bottom wall and a rear wall, saidfront section being formed with a cavity having front, rear, top andopposite side positioning surfaces, said bottom wall having an openingtherethrough in communication with said cavity and corresponding in sizeat least to the cross-sectional dimensions of said cavity as defined bysaid front, rear and opposite side positioning surfaces, said rear wallhaving slot means extending rearwardly therethrough upwardly from saidopening and in communication with said cavi- W;

a tray section dimensioned to accommodate a plurality of apertured cardstherewith and including in part a pair of side walls, a bottom wall anda front wall;

means for joining said tray section to said front section whereby toposition forwardly disposed edges of said tray section side walls andbottom wall in engagement with said front section rear wall and toposition a bottom surface of said tray section bottom wall essentiallyflush with a bottom surface of said front section bottom wall, said traysection front wall being joined to its associated bottom wall rearwardlyof said forwardly disposed edge thereof whereby to expose an upwardlyfacing surface of said tray section bottom wall spaced from said bottomsurface thereof, said front section rear wall slot means terminating ata point vertically above said upwardly facing surface;

a card holder rod removably insertable rearwardly through said frontsection and into said tray section for stringing said apertured cards;and

a latch device for releasably retaining said holder rod in an insertedposition thereof, said latch device including a mounting member and alatching member secured to said mounting member for movement relativethereto between holder rod latching and unlatching positions, saidmounting member being arranged essentially within said cavity and havingsurface portions thereof disposed in surface abutting engagement withsaid cavity positioning surfaces, said mounting member additionallyincluding tab means arranged to extend rearwardly through said slotmeans to overlie said upwardly facing surface, said tab means beingengaged by said upwardly facing surface whereby to maintain the saidmounting member surface portions positioned in surface engagement withsaid cavity positioning surfaces and prevent move ment of said mountingmember downwardly through said opening, said latching member beingaccessible through said opening for manual operation between saidpositions thereof.

1. A card tray construction comprising in combination: a front section including in part a bottom wall and a rear wall, said front section being formed with a cavity having front, rear, top and opposite side positioning surfaces, said bottom wall having an opening therethrough in communication with said cavity and corresponding in size at least to the crosssectional dimensions of said cavity defined by said front, rear and opposite side positioning surfaces, said rear wall having slot means extending rearwardly therethrough in communication with said cavity; a tray section dimensioned to accommodate a plurality of apertured cards therewithin and including in part a pair of side walls and a bottom wall, said tray section defining abutment means arranged intermediate said side walls and above a bottom surface of said bottom wall thereof; means for joining said tray section to said front section whereby to position forwardly disposed edges of said tray section side walls and bottom wall in engagement with said front section rear wall with said bottom surface of said tray section bottom wall disposed essentially flush with a bottom surface of said front section bottom wall; a card holder rod removably insertable rearwardly through said front section and into said tray section for stringing said apertured cards; and a latch device for releasably retaining said holder rod in an inserted position thereof, said latch device including a mounting member and a latching member secured to said mounting member for movement relative thereto between holder rod latching and unlatching positions, said mounting member being arranged within said cavity and having surface portions thereof disposed in surface abutting engagement with said cavity positioning surfaces, said mounting member additionally including abutment means, one of said mounting member abutment means and said tray section abutment means being arranged to extend through said slot means whereby to position said mounting member abutment means in overlying engagement with said tray section abutment means for maintaining said mounting member surface portions in surface engagement with said cavity positioning surfaces and preventing movement of said mounting member downwardly through said opening, said latching member being accessible through said opening for manual operation between said positions thereof.
 2. A card tray construction comprising in combination: a front section including in part a bottom wall and a rear wall, said front section being formed with a cavity having front, rear, top and opposite side positioning surfaces, said bottom wall having an opening therethrough in communication with said cavity and corresponding in size at least to the cross-sectional dimensions of said cavity as defined by said front, rear and opposite side positioning surfaces, said rear wall having slot means extending rearwardly therethrough upwardly from said opening and in communication with said cavity; a tray section dimensioned to accommodate a plurality of apertured cards therewith and including in part a pair of side walls, a bottom wall and a front wall; means for joining said tray section to said front section whereby to position forwardly disposed edges of said tray section side walls and bottom wall in engagement with said front section rear wall and to position a bottom surface of said tray section bottom wall essentially flush with a bottom surface of said front section bottom wall, said tray section front wall being joined to its associated bottom wall rearwardly of said forwardly disposed edge thereof whereby to expose an upwardly facing surface of said tray section bottom wall spaced from said bottom surface thereof, said front section rear wall slot means terminating at a point vertically above said upwardly facing surface; a card holder rod removably insertable rearwardly through said front section and into said tray section for stringing said apertured cards; and a latch device for releasably retaining said holder rod in an inserted position thereof, said latch device including a mounting member and a latching member secured to said mounting member for movement relative thereto between holder rod latching and unlatching positions, said mounting member being arranged essentially within said cavity and having surface portions thereof disposed in surface abutting engagement with said cavity positioning surfaces, said mounting member additionally including tab means arranged to extend rearwardly through said slot means to overlie said upwardly facing surface, said tab means being engaged by said upwardly facing surface whereby to maintain the said mounting member surface portions positioned in surface engagement with said cavity positioning surfaces and prevent movement of said mounting member downwardly through said opening, said latching member being accessible through said opening for manual operation between said positions thereof. 